Despair. Disappointment. Disbelief. Those were among the words ESPN’s Jen Lada used to describe the emotions inside Notre Dame’s football facility as the Irish hopelessly saw their national championship dreams slip away on TV. Not on the field, but behind closed doors, with no real rationale or consistency to support the arbitrary decision-making of the 12-member College Football Playoff committee.
Notre Dame, winners of ten straight by at least double digits, had its fate sealed as a giant “U,” the same logo which had sat behind them for the previous five weeks, dashed across the screen for the final spot in the 12-team field. Of course, the Miami Hurricanes did beat Notre Dame 27-24 back on Aug. 31, and for that reason, the final decision was probably correct. But the manner in which the rankings shifted between Nov. 4 and yesterday are both illogical and nonsensical.
The anxiety that forebode Sunday’s disappointment began on Tuesday evening, when Alabama, after barely surviving 5-7 Auburn, somehow leapfrogged then-No. 9 Notre Dame. We’ll get back to Alabama, but for now let’s address the flaws in this current system.
Foremost, holding a weekly rankings show is both untruthful and unhelpful. Like most of college football, and intercollegiate athletics as a whole, it exists solely for money (in this case benefitting ESPN). In no other selection-based postseason are weekly updates distributed. The Tuesday evening episodes have also placed the committee in tough spots of levying retributive reactions, upholding certain precedents and formulating conclusions without all available data points.
For example, if the weekly updates were accurate, Miami shouldn’t jump Notre Dame in the final poll after both teams sat idle. Nothing between those two teams changed since the last edition of the rankings, yet their positions flipped. Additionally, each public decision sets precedence for the next, making 2024 SMU’s case study an advantage for Alabama’s candidacy, despite the Mustangs having no bearing on the current landscape of college football.
Furthermore, the impact of politicking and media support shouldn’t be ignored either. It’s no secret that both SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Miami head coach Mario Cristobal embarked on shameless speaking tours this week to boast about their respective sides. While Sankey and nearly every ESPN personality pushed for the inclusion of seven SEC teams, and the ACC Network broadcast re-runs of the Notre Dame-Miami game for 48 consecutive hours, Irish athletics director Pete Bevacqua and head coach Marcus Freeman sat mostly quietly, respecting the unfolding process.
This isn’t to assert that Notre Dame possesses the moral high ground in this situation. ESPN supported SEC and ACC teams all weekend, while FOX backed BYU and NBC propped up Notre Dame. The point here is that media contracts shouldn’t obstruct fair, unbiased analysis. Yet it has. College football and its postseason should be equitable, yet the committee has fallen victim to a hybrid beauty contest and political debate peddled by the media rights holders.
Alright, back to Alabama. While many across the Irish nation still sit in shock about the direction of the hurricane, the succeeding high tide is far more unsettling. Since 2023 (the year before the current system was adopted), every conference championship game loser has been penalized with a drop of at least one spot in the rankings. That includes this year’s Ohio State, who lost by three, Virginia, who fell in overtime, and BYU, who committee chair Hunter Yurachek declared was overmatched and demolished in the Big 12 final. Yet Alabama, who was physically handled for 60 minutes by the Georgia Bulldogs, to the tune of -3 rushing yards and just seven points, stayed put at No. 9.
Yurachek, also the athletics director at fellow SEC school Arkansas, claimed Alabama’s strength of schedule and body of work over the first twelve games warranted that the Tide not be punished for its performance in an “additional data point.” Yet, BYU, in a nearly identical situation, was punished, which, in Yurachek’s words, allowed for the direct head-to-head comparison of Notre Dame and Miami. As for the strength of schedule argument, Ole Miss was ranked ahead of Texas A&M despite an inferior strength of schedule, and James Madison edged Duke for the final automatic bid, despite enduring one of the nation’s easiest schedules to the result of zero Power 4 wins. There is one clear explanation for this, clearly visible to all outside Title Town and Bristol, Conn.: There are different standards for different teams. And the SEC always receives the benefit of the doubt.
Looking back at Tuesday’s original shift between the Tide and the Irish, there is dissonance in Yurachek’s reasoning there as well. Alabama was commended for its second half fight and fourth-down courage on the road in a rivalry against a terrible Auburn team. Notre Dame, which also won on the road in a rivalry game against an equally terrible Stanford side, did not receive those same compliments. The Irish, who won by 29 as opposed to seven, were not credited for beating a rival that was 4-1 on its home turf, nor were they praised for a bold fake punt inside their own 20-yard line. For what it’s worth, nowhere in the committee’s selection criteria are rivalry outcomes or perceived fourth-down courage listed.
To continue, Yurachek mentioned that he implored his fellow committee members to watch the tape of Notre Dame and Miami from way back in August. I’m guessing they ran out of time to watch the tape of 5-7 Florida State’s convincing 14-point win over the Crimson Tide from a day prior. While Alabama certainly holds one of the most impressive wins, Georgia thoroughly neutralized that result on Saturday in Atlanta, with the Tide still holding the worst loss of any selected team.
It should be noted that Yurachek had an impossible, and even thankless task. No matter the conclusion his group arrived at today, furious discussion would have arisen. I just find his stated reasoning to be inconsistent and unjustifiable.
Finally, Notre Dame supporters and college football fans alike need to resist blaming Tulane and James Madison for this predicament. Those teams aren’t to blame for the calamitous system set in place. They simply took care of business, won their conference championships and took advantage of the disastrous Atlantic Coast Conference (whose third-place team will participate, but I digress). It would be an over reaction to deem the work and competition of 68 Group of Five teams unnecessary and inconsequential all because the ACC has weird tie-breaking procedures. While the Green Wave and Dukes will almost certainly be crushed at Mississippi and Oregon, respectively, they have earned their positions under the Playoff’s current setup.
With all that being said, I firmly believe that expansion to 16, 24 or even 64 will not solve this problem. These debates will persist wherever the cutline lies. Outside of undefeated Florida State in 2023, every omitted team in the history of the College Football Playoff could have done more. Notre Dame could have beaten Miami or Texas A&M. They did not. And while that doesn’t make their omission any less controversial, or any less erroneous, the Irish were 10-2, not 12-0.
Notre Dame can now respond in a several ways. After all, the Irish have already opted to not participate in a bowl game this postseason. After a month-long television and social media smear campaign imposed by the ACC against the Irish, Notre Dame may opt to reevaluate its long-standing scheduling agreement with the league. If strength of schedule is almighty as professed by Yurachek, maybe the Irish are forced to rethink their independence, or at least their scheduling philosophy. Or maybe, they just hope for better luck, and improved judgment.
In the meantime, add ‘93 to the sign.
